Description:
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A very large and early (Tico type) Colima pottery flat figure, sometimes called a 'gingerbread' figure after the beloved American "Gingerbread Boy" fairy tale character who famously taunted and escaped the jaws of a fox. Its abstract form boasts a characteristically pointy, elongated head and large protruding nose with a flat body, arms and legs extended out from his core in pantomime-like fashion. The figure is nicely adorned with appliqued ornaments, wearing a grand and greatly detailed headdress and 'beaded' pectoral. The pierced ears originally held feathers or other perishable ornaments, now lost to time. On the back of the figure are hand painted black striations and cross-hatched motifs indicating body paint or tattoo markings. An excellent example from the West Mexican shaft tomb tradition that playfully brings to mind those famous lines, "Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me. I'm the Gingerbread Man!" Size: 7.5" W x 11" H (19 cm x 27.9 cm)

Provenance: Ex-Peter Arnovick collection, San Francisco, CA

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#117712

Condition Report:
Repaired from 3 pieces with restoration over the breaks. Loss to tip of headdress as shown. Nice manganese deposits on surface.